As part of the Museum of Making Music's special ukulele exhibition
"The Ukulele & You," we invite you to a very special event with Jim
Beloff, Jim Tranquada, John King and studio legend Lyle Ritz. These
events will take place at the museum at 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad,
California (San Diego County). You can find more information about
this exhibition and future events online at: http://www.museumofmakingmusic.org.

November 3: Ukulele Workshop, Discussion & Concert

@ 1 PM: "STRUMMIN' WITH JUMPIN' JIM" UKE WORKSHOP
Jim Beloff (Jumpin' Jim songbooks; The Joy of Uke DVDs) introduces the
basics of playing the ukulele, including: holding, tuning, strumming
and making the chords. By the end of the workshop, participants will
have played through a dozen well-known songs and will have learned new
chords, strums, tips and techniques along the way.

In addition, Lyle Ritz will join the workshop for the last 30-minutes
to provide his experience to audience members, along with music for
some of the more advanced uke players in attendance.

Bring a G-C-E-A soprano-tuned uke and be ready to have a lot of fun.
At the end of the workshop you will have made a new life-long friend-
your ukulele! See uke there!

@ 3 PM: PANEL DISCUSSION
"Tiptoeing" Through the Tulips: The Surprising Story of the Ukulele in
Modern Culture

John King and Jim Tranquada, two highly respected ukulele historians,
examine the rich and often surprising history of the ukulele. The
panelists will explore lesser-known aspects of the instrument's early
history. They will also address how the ukulele became "the national
instrument of Hawaii" within a decade of its arrival in Honolulu,
supported by their recent findings in archives in Hawaii and on the
mainland. They will discuss how the ukulele became a national fad and
flew off music store shelves on the mainland in 1915. The panel will
explore how and why the ukulele became a symbol of jazz age teen
rebellion in the 1920s and why it was sold in millions during the
1950s. Finally, the panelists will delve into why so many people,
still today, fail to take this little four-string instrument from
Portugal seriously.

The panel will also include two special guests-the jazz ukulele legend
Lyle Ritz and Jim Beloff, the author of The Ukulele-A Visual History
and publisher of the Jumpin' Jim's line of ukulele songbooks.

The panel discussion will be accompanied by a multimedia presentation
of rare historic ukulele memorabilia and recordings.

@ 7 PM: THE UKULELE UNUSUAL CONCERT
Come and enjoy a variety of ukulele music performed by masters of the
ukulele- Lyle Ritz, John King, Jim & Liz Beloff with bassist Gunnar
Biggs. The concert will include both familiar and unusual music
including pop and Hawaiian standards, classical music and jazz.

Tickets are $15 ($12 for Museum members) and includes all three
events. Contact (760) 438-5996, ext. 212 for tickets and
reservations.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

LYLE RITZ
Lyle Ritz literally invented the concept of the ukulele as a jazz
instrument with his two seminal Verve recordings from the late '50s,
How About Uke and 50th State Jazz. Although Lyle is an icon in the
ukulele world, he is best known for his work as a bassist. He has
played on thousands of legendary recordings with the historic LA
studio band the Wrecking Crew. Songs like "Good Vibrations" and
"You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" all feature Lyle's bass playing.

Lyle has recorded four CDs and authored three ukulele songbooks. He
was inducted into the Ukulele Hall of Fame in June 2007, the 50th
anniversary of his first ukulele album. Performing with his Ko'olau
tenor ukulele, Ritz's repertoire includes classic jazz, pop and bossa
nova selections.

JOHN KING
John King is a noted ukulele virtuoso and historian. He began playing
the ukulele in 1960 while living in Hawaii, receiving his first
instruction from his mother, an accomplished amateur. Praised by the
Honolulu Advertiser for the "harp-like sound" he coaxes from the
ukulele, John King is an applied music teacher at Eckerd College in
St. Petersburg, Florida. His recordings of Bach and the music of
Hawaii's royal family have been featured on National Public Radio.
King will be playing classical Royal Hawaiian 19th century music and
will present his hallmark adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach music
for the ukulele.

JIM & LIZ BELOFF
Jim & Liz Beloff helped to establish the ukulele's present
popularity. Jim is the author of The Ukulele-A Visual History and
publisher of the popular Jumpin' Jim's series of ukulele songbooks.
He has also recorded two CDs of original songs performed on the
ukulele, produced the Rhino Records compilation CD Legends Of Ukulele,
and made two how-to-play videos for Homespun Tapes. In 2004 he
released The Finer Things, a recording of sixteen songs he co-wrote
with ukulele master, Herb Ohta.

In 1999, Jim and Liz along with sister, Phyllis and brother-in-law,
Dale Webb, introduced a new, colorful, low-cost ukulele called the
FLUKE (and later the FLEA) that has won admirers all over the world.
Their company, Flea Market Music (fleamarketmusic.com), is dedicated
to the ukulele and they believe very strongly that "Uke Can Change The
World." Flea Market Music's ukulele duo will perform their original
songs and classic standard sing-a-longs with sophisticated harmonies.

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